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One of my favorite and coincidentally strangest meals is a sort of modified meatloaf. This dish was created and first made by my father, with the help of his favorite son, me! Many of the ingredients are the same as you’d find in any other meatloaf, such as ground beef, salt, and pepper. The first place where this recipe varies, however, is with the ketchup. Instead of using typical American ketchup, we use sweeter, richer Chinese ketchup, and we also mix this with Hoisin. In addition to the ketchup itself being richer and more flavorful than normal ketchup, the sweetness from the Hoisin sauce adds a completely new element to the meal.

In addition to these strange modifications, the typical use of breadcrumbs is replaced by extremely tasty buttermilk fried onion rings. Not only is the onion flavor absorbed into the dish, but the batter itself makes for a much “fluffier” meatloaf. Finally, the absolute craziest modification is… wait for it… Quaker Chewy bars—in particular, the S’mores flavor! We get a huge bowl with the whole meatloaf concoction, and then mix in about seven of the candy bars and knead them into the mixture.

As per the ingredients, this is where the oddities stop. However, the shape is also quite unconventional. Instead of the traditional shape of a loaf of bread, it is now rolled into something reminiscent of a snake. We find that it is much easier to cut and divide, as well as much quicker to cook this way. Overall, just a few quick modifications to the recipe as well as the technique completely change the dish, to create a more efficient, tastier, and more customized dish.